Case due before court seeks to strike down landmark Affordable Care Act – which could leave millions of Americans adrift
This month, Congress is expected to begin confirmation hearings for Donald Trump’s nominee for the supreme court, Amy Coney Barrett. If confirmed, she could be the decisive vote in a case being heard days after the election, which seeks to strike down the landmark Affordable Care Act – a move that could leave millions of Americans without healthcare in the middle of a pandemic.
Related: Amy Coney Barrett: what will she mean for women's rights?
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Trump signals he won’t agree to rules changes for debates – live
- Trump: ‘Why would I allow the Debate Commission to change the rules?’
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- Biden plans late-election in-person campaign push
- US officials were directed to make sympathetic comments about Kyle Rittenhouse, report says
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Frmo Erum Salam in Houston and Sam Levine in New York:
Texas is already one of the hardest places in America to vote, and Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, on Thursday made it even harder.
Related: Outrage as Texas governor orders closure of multiple ballot drop-off sites
A procedural vote on a bill that would stop Trump’s Justice Department from intervening in a lawsuit to strike down the Affordable Care Act has failed.
In a rare move, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer forced a procedural vote to consider the measure, in an attempt to force Republicans – many of whom had said they support protections for people with pre-existing conditions – to prove it with their votes. The bill would “protect the health care of hundreds of millions of people of the United States and prevent efforts of the Department of Justice to advocate courts to strike down the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” per Senate Democrats.
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Breonna Taylor: family attorney says wanton endangerment charge ‘doesn’t make sense’ – live updates
- Two officers shot amid Breonna Taylor killing charging decision
- Protesters despair for justice in Breonna Taylor killing
- Louisville: man charged in shooting of two officers
- Trump booed while paying respects to RBG
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Donald Trump said that Medicare beneficiaries will soon be receiving a $200 card in the mail to help them afford their prescriptions.
“Nobody’s seen this before. These cards are incredible,” Trump said. “I will always take care of our wonderful senior citizens.”
While unveiling his “America First Healthcare Plan” in a speech in Charlotte, North Carolina, Donald Trump is veering away from healthcare and is trying to paint the Democratic party as “socialism”.
“Under the Democrats plan, costs would skyrocket,” he said. “Seniors, they’ve been paying their entire lives.” Trump said, seeming to talk about healthcare, but then seemed to veer off saying that the Democrats support “socialism and open borders”.
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Coronavirus Australia live update: premier Daniel Andrews to hold press conference as Victoria records 28 new Covid cases
Covid-19 restrictions ease in regional Victoria today as economists and international students call for expansion of jobkeeper. Follow all today’s news
- Follow our global coronavirus live blog
- International students struggle to survive
- Cuts to jobkeeper will take $9.9bn out of economy by Christmas
- Full Story: the loneliness of Melbourne’s lockdown
In two weeks time, the telehealth medicare rebates expire.
On that same day, private health insurance premiums are scheduled to increase (after being delayed because of the pandemic)
Labor knows the pandemic is far from over, and supports calls from across the health sector for the items to be extended from 1 October.
Labor has also consistently called for Greg Hunt to reconsider the 2.92 per cent private health insurance premium hike that is due on the same day.
This report will be very, very interesting.
The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety will issue a special report on the COVID-19 pandemic in aged care ahead of its Final Report, due on 26 February 2021. The report will be delivered to the Governor-General on Wednesday, 30 September 2020 #auspol #COVID19Aus
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Trump heads to Michigan as row over Woodward coronavirus revelations continues – live
- Trump will travel to Michigan today for campaign event
- At least seven dead and thousands displaced as fires scorch US west
- Pelosi: Trump’s comments to Woodward showed ‘contempt for the American people’
- Trump tries to stir up panic over recent anti-racism protests
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Here’s where the day stands so far:
Senior administration official Seema Verma is facing questions over her consultant fees that were paid with taxpayer dollars.
Politico reports:
When Seema Verma, the Trump administration’s top Medicaid official, went to a reporter’s home in November 2018 for a ‘Girl’s Night’ thrown in her honor, taxpayers footed the bill to organize the event: $2,933.
When Verma wrote an op-ed on Fox News’ website that fall, touting President Donald Trump’s changes to Obamacare, taxpayers got charged for one consultant’s price to place it: $977.
That Seema Verma is still running CMS says everything that needs to be said about how seriously this administration takes shameless graft and transparent corruption from its own appointees—which is to say, not at all:https://t.co/f8PD9LNu3E
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Trump criticized for reported military comments: ‘He doesn’t understand bravery’ – live
- Report: Trump called American war dead ‘suckers’
- US unemployment fell to 8.4% last month
- Could western Pennsylvania win Trump a second term?
- New York police hunt car that drove into BLM protesters
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During the press conference, Biden was asked a few more questions on Trump’s comments on voting, mask-wearing, ongoing Russian election interference and the economic agreement between Serbia and Kosovo.
“It is a felony!” he said of Trump’s illegal suggestion that voters vote twice.
Asked about Qanon and Trump’s refusal to denounce the conspiracy and its followers, replied: “I’ve been a big supporter of mental health.”
He said supporters of the theory should avail themselves of the mental health resources provided by the Affordable Care Act.
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Coronavirus Australia live: Victoria reports 113 new cases and 15 deaths and NSW records 12 cases
Senate censures aged care minister Richard Colbeck and security firms involved in guarding Melbourne quarantine hotels continue giving evidence at the state’s inquiry. Follow live news and updates today
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- Australian stats interactive
- NSW cases map; NSW hotspots list
- Queensland hotspots list
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In other news:
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has welcomed an interim parliamentary committee report that recommends that Medicare-subsidised telehealth be made permanent.
We are pleased that the interim report of the select committee on financial technology and regulatory technology has backed the RACGP’s calls for telehealth to be made permanent in its recommendations.
With the September deadline looming, patients and GPs urgently need clarity on the future of telehealth and e-prescribing services. Patients with long-term conditions are already being booked in for appointments after 30 September, and general practices need to know whether telehealth is an option.
The last thing we need is a lack of clarity or significant disruption for patients and GPs across the country. Telehealth must be extended while we work on a suitable long-term solution.
The House is about to adjourn, but Labor has moved a motion to try and get the sitting to continue (which will fail).
And oh God, I have just been told we might end up sitting for four weeks straight after budget, because the quarantine for the MPs is a little too difficult to wrangle.
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RNC live: Trump to speak at every night of convention alongside family members and supporters
- President will appear tonight with six former hostages
While CNN and ABC have been streaming the RNC largely uninterrupted, Fox News is not. And it’s miffed some prominent Republicans. Sean Hannity, on Fox, provided his own commentary on the convention and interviewed Carl Rove about how the RNC has compared to the DNC so far. With a mind-boggling lack of self-awareness, Hannity accused that other media, “won’t be showing large parts of the convention.”
Can’t believe I have to watch the convention on @CNN. Unbelievable. @FoxNews
The Republican convention played a video claiming Trump has kept “every single” promise he had made since becoming president.
As CNN’s chief fact-checker Daniel Dale noted, that is not even close to being true. According to Politifact, Trump has broken about half of the promises he had made to the American people.
This video has Trump saying "I have kept every single" promise. Not even close to true. Mexico hasn't paid for the wall, Obamacare hasn't been repealed, and on and on. PolitiFact's 100-promise tracker says 49% have been broken. https://t.co/U4XZnHARUg
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Obama expected to denounce Trump’s ‘cynical moves’ on mail-in voting – US politics live
- Obama expected to make case ‘democracy itself is on the line’
- Democrats formally nominate Biden for president
- Ocasio-Cortez accuses NBC of spreading misinformation after speech
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During a gaggle with reporters White House counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway said she didn’t know about Trump’s call to boycott Goodyear. But she did say that Trump would hold a briefing at 5 p.m. ET today.
According to a White House pool report the exchange with reporters and Conway went like this:
Why is the president calling for a boycott of Goodyear? It’s an Ohio company, in a battleground state?. Seems like a particularly bad idea for him?
I don’t know what you’re talking about. You can ask about the president at 5 o’clock, he’ll be briefing. I think he’s done plenty for companies in Ohio and elsewhere, far more than Joe Bidne ever did, creating a job.
The Supreme Court has set a date for when it will hear oral arguments in an Obamacare repeal case. It will be the morning after the November elections, adding to what was already slated to be a chaotic week in the United States.
Supreme Court's election season oral arguments include big LGBT rights/religion case the day after the election and Obamacare the following week. Whether or not the election will be decided by then remains to be seen pic.twitter.com/6tn5EBn4El
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Democratic convention live: second night begins with Jill Biden to speak
- Ocasio-Cortez praises Sanders’ campaign in nominating speech
- Colin Powell to endorse former vice-president
- Cindy McCain to detail husband’s ‘unlikely friendship’ with Biden
- Biden to be formally nominated on convention’s second night
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Ocasio-Cortez, like so many progressives, traces her political awakening to Sanders 2016 presidential campaign, where she worked as an organizer. A self-described democratic socialist, Ocasio-Cortez was elected to Congress in 2018, unseating the fourth-ranking House Democrat.
Since her shocking victory, she has helped organize and raise money for progressive challengers around the country, including Jamaal Bowman who won the Democratic primary this year, knocking off a 16-term incumbent in a deep-blue New York district.
Many progressives were furious that Ocasio-Cortez, widely viewed as the leader of a next generation of Democrats, was only allotted one minute to speak, while ample time was devoted on Monday night to Republican defectors, including former Ohio John Kasich, a staunch opponent of abortion.
Yet her invitation was a testament to influence within the party, rare for a first-term member of Congress.
Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed Sanders in the primary, giving his campaign a much needed jolt in the uncertain days after the senator’s heart attack, has been critical of Biden’s establishment-minded approach to governing. In an interview last year, she mused that in another country, they would not belong to the same party.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s nominating speech for Bernie Sanders was a virtual passing of the torch. Sanders briefly led the primary contest earlier this year before falling impossibly behind Biden as fear of the coronavirus began to spread across the US.
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Sanders, who nearly eked out a victory in the Iowa caucuses, and then went on to win primary contests in New Hampshire, and Nevada before sweeping California on Super Tuesday, is expected to receive around 1,000 delegates.
In the same way Sanders popularized Medicare for all, she has championed the Green New Deal – both turning the issue into a rallying cry for young Democrats and an easy line of attack for Republicans. Climate is one of the key areas in which Biden has moved left, and she was included in the Biden-Sanders unity taskforces, created to forge a policy consensus between the often-warning progressive and moderate wings of the Democrtic party.
Addressing his supporters on Monday, Sanders said their movement had “moved this country in a bold new direction” but he was unequivocal in his endorsement of Biden, warning that the stakes were too high to stay home.
“The future of our democracy is at stake,” he said.